The Mysterious Craft of Manifesting True Vintage Fashion

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An early 1960’s velveteen “all-weather” coat that I would double as an evening coat! Love the covered buttons and the beautiful attached neck scarf, plus stylish 3/4 sleeves that look SO fabulous with longer gloves. I’ve found several of these (one in emerald green!). Made in Canada.Stella modeling the great nylon black and white checked coat from the 1950’s that I found in Australia. These utilitarian coats were popular in the ’40’s and ’50’s, but this is the most stylish example I’ve ever seen, with a print, rather than plain.

Finally, most of my umbrella collection. Some have great prints and some are most distinguished by the handles. Always a fun statement. Love the old Lucite and the vibrant colors! I may be able to use one today . . . . .

Today, on a more-or-less routine survey, I had wonderful good fortune. I’m just about to re-examine and photograph my newest acquisitions and get them ready to post on the blog. Because I have already scheduled postings for the next three days, expect to begin seeing these on Sunday, Nov. 13.

Okay, so you’ve decided to go out tonight and you’ve got a great outfit but it’s raining !!! An umbrella is required to protect your clothing and your good humor. SO, how about carrying a great one from the ’40s, with a Lucite handle?

This beauty turned up for me completely by surprise, at a place where I found some wonderful ’50s dresses (stay tuned).. I have some other vintage umbrellas, but this is the most spectacular of them all. There’s nothing like it made for many years, so you’ll be sure to attract attention. What a great vintage accessory!

Although I don’t carry it when I don’t want to be noticed, it does go nicely with my black trench coat. . . . . . . . . .

MORGANA MARTIN, THE MAGICVINTAGESPY

BLOG: MAGICVINTAGESPY.COM

BOOK: HOW TO FIND THE BEST IN VINTAGE FASHION – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM

It’s so frustrating not to be able to post a photo every day, but with traveling so much it’s difficult to take along enough pictures to cover the whole time that I’m away from my vintage closets. However, I never stop thinking about them and recently have been thinking more about ACCESSORIES.

Now that the heaviest coats are coming off and everyone is dreaming about spring outfits, more colors and lighter-weight clothing, accessories will show up and show off more, too. I think that women made more use of them in decades past than we do now, wearing hats, gloves and scarves with most ensembles and much more jewelry. Mens’ accessories also seemed to take more of a leading role than they do now, especially for day-to-day wear – remember the ever-present hat in the 1940s and ’50s.

Where do I begin? There are so many categories – handbags and purse accessories, wallets, luggage, belts, gloves, hats, headscarves, neck scarves, ties, handkerchiefs, watches and all types of jewelry and ornaments for clothing, bodies and hair, SHOES, slippers, stockings and tights, umbrellas and rain-gear, glasses and sunglasses – what else?. Any one of these items can make (or break) an ensemble all by itself. That’s why it’s so important and so much fun to collect well-selected items and investigate the ways to use them in your wardrobe. The creative variations are endless and deserve careful consideration, rather than just throwing things together.

I’ll be posting photos of my true vintage accessories in among the photos of clothing and sometimes will do a series of accessory photos to highlight a particular type. True vintage accessories are easy to find when you are looking in the right places and know what to look for. They tend to hide in obscure spots and sometimes in plain sight, often turning up when you least expect it. You just never know . . . . . .